Terri Clark Gets ‘Personal’ with Her New Album, ‘Roots and Wings’

Her recording career spans 15 years and eight albums, but Terri Clark might just now be hitting her stride.

Clark’s latest album ‘Roots and Wings’ finds her tapping into her own experiences for a largely self-written batch of original tunes — and earning some of the best reviews of her career along the way. According to Clark, who enjoyed a string of platinum success in the 90s, recent turmoil in her personal life required a new, more honest approach to her music.

“I think that any personal struggles that an artist goes through, especially if you write your own music, is going to come through in what you do,” she reflected. For Clark, those struggles included losing her mother to cancer last year. “I lost my best friend. My singing and my songwriting and my career was always so important to her. She was always such a big part of it, that I knew I couldn’t just curl up in a ball and die and quit making music.”

Instead, Clark dedicated herself again to her craft. “I’m not selling millions of records anymore,” she admitted, “but I feel like I’m making the best music of my life because it’s the most honest music I’ve ever made.”

Like Clark’s last album, 2009′s ‘The Long Way Home,’ the new collection was released through her own EMI-distributed label. That increased level of responsibility placed Clark right on the front line when it comes to the reaction of her fans. Thankfully, she says, “The fans love it. With the last album, there were some fans who thought some of the songs were too serious or whatever, but I have not seen one negative comment about this album anywhere. I can’t tell you how happy that makes me feel.”